Independent gas transport system operator to enable non-discriminatory open access for booking common carrier pipeline capacity.
Extension of the household cooking fuel scheme to additional beneficiaries, expansion of city gas distribution into further districts over a multi-year period, initiation of a gas pipeline project in the Union Territory, and establishment of an Independent Gas Transport System Operator to facilitate and coordinate booking of common carrier capacity across all natural gas pipelines on a non-discriminatory open-access basis.

Result-linked power distribution reforms to fund DISCOM infrastructure upgrades and introduce consumer choice among distribution companies.
A centrally funded result linked power distribution reform scheme will assist DISCOMs in infrastructure creation-including pre paid smart metering, feeder separation and system upgrades-conditioned on financial improvements. A competitive framework will be introduced to allow consumers to choose among multiple distribution companies. A National Hydrogen Energy Mission is also proposed to generate hydrogen from green power sources to advance the green energy transition.

National highway expansion: increased budget allocation to accelerate awards, corridor completions and traffic management upgrades.
The budget increases capital funding for road transport to accelerate national highway development, prioritising awards and completions under the flagship corridors programme. Immediate targets include substantial additional awards and corridor completions within the coming year, supported by prior awards and partial construction under the programme. State-specific economic corridor packages and major expressway initiations are planned, and new four and six lane highways will incorporate modern traffic management technologies to enhance safety and operations.

Record railway capital outlay backs National Rail Plan, DFC commissioning, network electrification and safety upgrades.
Record railway funding is allocated to implement a National Rail Plan for India - 2030 focused on capital investment, commissioning Western and Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridors by mid 2022, advancing specific DFC sections in public private partnership mode, preparing Detailed Project Reports for additional freight corridors, and accelerating broad gauge electrification. Planned upgrades also include Vista Dome LHB tourist coaches and deployment of an indigenous automatic train protection system on high density routes to enhance safety.

Public transport funding increases: new central scheme supports city bus augmentation and low cost metro deployment nationwide.
A central budgetary initiative proposes a new scheme to support augmentation of city bus services through PPP models enabling private sector financing, acquisition, operation and maintenance of over twenty thousand buses, and promotes deployment of lower cost metro technologies (MetroLite and MetroNeo) for Tier 2 and peripheral urban areas, alongside central counterpart funding for specific metro project phases to accelerate metro and RRTS expansion.

Development Financial Institution capitalisation to boost infrastructure lending; amendments to permit debt financing of InVITs and REITs by foreign investors.
A Development Financial Institution will be capitalised to catalyse infrastructure lending and legislative amendments will permit debt financing of InVITs and REITs by foreign portfolio investors; concurrently a National Monetization Pipeline and Asset Monetization dashboard will be launched to monetize operational public infrastructure assets via transfers into InvITs and concessions across roads, transmission, pipelines, airports, railway assets, warehousing and stadiums.

Agricultural credit target increase to expand farm lending and support allied sectors, paired with infrastructure and market reforms.
Nine measures aim to bolster agriculture and rural welfare: extend SWAMITVA to all States/UTs; raise the agricultural credit target with focus on animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries; increase the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund and double the Micro Irrigation Fund under NABARD; expand Operation Greens to 22 more perishables; integrate 1,000 additional mandis with e NAM; allow APMCs access to the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund; invest in five major fishing harbours and inland landing centres; and establish a multipurpose Seaweed Park in Tamil Nadu, alongside reiterated MSP linked procurement support.

One Nation One Ration Card enables nationwide portability of food entitlements for migrant workers and their families.
One Nation One Ration Card enables portability of food entitlements so beneficiaries, particularly migrant workers, can claim rations from any location with partial claims between workplace and native household. A national portal will collect data on the unorganised workforce to design Health, Housing, Skill, Insurance, Credit, and food schemes. Implementation of four Labour Codes will extend social security and minimum wage coverage to gig and platform workers and expand Employees State Insurance; single registration and online returns will cut employer compliance burden.

National Education Policy rollout to strengthen exemplar schools, expand partnership-run residential schools, and reform higher education governance.
Budget proposes operationalising the National Education Policy by qualitatively strengthening a network of schools to include all NEP components as regional exemplar institutions, expanding specialised residential schools through partnerships with NGOs, private providers and states, creating a Higher Education Commission of India with four functional vehicles for standard setting, accreditation, regulation and funding, establishing umbrella structures in selected cities supported by a glue grant, and setting up a Central University in Leh to improve higher education access.

National Research Foundation funding to strengthen research ecosystem, alongside measures for digital payments, language access, space and ocean missions.
A National Research Foundation is proposed with a multi year outlay to strengthen the national research ecosystem and target national priority thrust areas. Complementary measures include incentives to expand digital payments, a National Language Translation Mission to digitise governance and policy knowledge into major Indian languages, support for space launches and human spaceflight preparation, and a Deep Ocean Mission to fund deep ocean survey, exploration and conservation projects.

Production Linked Incentive schemes to scale manufacturing and integrate firms into global supply chains, fostering export champions and jobs.
A five-year financial commitment beginning FY 2021-22 funds Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes across thirteen sectors to build manufacturing scale, integrate firms into global supply chains, and foster technology, global competitiveness and employment. Separately, the Mega Investment Textile Parks (MITRA) scheme will establish seven textile parks over three years delivering plug-and-play infrastructure to attract investment, boost exports and generate jobs.

Welfare funding for tea workers expands targeted support for women and children alongside apprenticeship and skill reforms.
A dedicated welfare programme will provide targeted funding for tea workers in Assam and West Bengal, prioritising women and children, alongside measures to facilitate credit to disadvantaged groups by reducing margin requirements and expanding eligible activities. Separately, the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme will be realigned with substantial funding and the Apprenticeship Act amended to increase apprenticeship opportunities, complemented by increased investment in tribal residential schools, an enhanced Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for Scheduled Castes, and international skill benchmarking and bilateral training collaborations.

Decriminalisation of LLP law proposed to simplify compliance and strengthen insolvency, corporate governance, and e adjudication frameworks.
Decriminalisation of the Limited Liability Partnership regime is proposed to align LLP compliance with recent decriminalisation of procedural and technical compoundable offences under corporate law, broadening administrative remedies; revisions to the Small Company definition increase paid up capital and turnover thresholds to ease compliance; One Person Company reforms remove caps on capital and turnover, ease residency requirements and permit NRIs to incorporate; NCLT strengthening and alternate MSME debt resolution mechanisms are proposed alongside launch of MCA21 Version 3.0 for AI driven e scrutiny and e adjudication.

Senior citizen filing exemption for pension and interest income simplifies compliance and places withholding on banks.
The Budget exempts senior citizens aged seventy-five and above with only pension and interest income from filing income-tax returns, with banks to deduct required tax; reduces reopening period for assessments to three years while permitting longer reopening in serious concealment cases with higher-authority approval; proposes a faceless Dispute Resolution Committee for modest disputes and a National Faceless Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Centre; and introduces pre-filling of returns, higher tax-audit threshold for predominantly digital businesses, and extensions of tax incentives for affordable housing and start-ups.

Custom duty rationalisation to revise exemptions and tariff structure, promoting domestic manufacturing and easing GST compliance.
The Budget announces indirect tax reforms to incentivise domestic manufacturing and remove tariff distortions: further GST simplification via GSTN capacity upgrades and analytics to detect evasion, and a comprehensive customs duty rationalisation including review of legacy exemptions, time-limited future exemptions, sectoral tariff adjustments for electronics, steel, textiles, chemicals and renewable-energy inputs, a phased manufacturing plan for solar modules, and an Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess on select imports with offsetting excise changes to limit consumer burden.

Public Private Partnership for port operations enables private management of major port services under new budget measures.
Major ports will move to a Public Private Partnership model for operational services with seven projects offered on PPP; private partners will manage services and procurement will proceed via global tenders. A budgetary subsidy support scheme is proposed to promote flagging of merchant ships by supporting Indian shipping companies in global tenders, and the budget also proposes to double ship recycling capacity using HKC compliant yards to attract foreign tonnage and generate employment.

Tax reform: simplified direct and indirect measures to ease compliance and mobilise investment for economic reset.
Budget under the banner of AtmaNirbhar Bharat organizes measures across six pillars emphasizing expanded health financing through PM AtmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat Yojana, accelerated infrastructure financing via a new Development Financial Institution and a National Monetization Pipeline, production-linked incentives and textile parks, inclusive agriculture and social-protection measures, education and R&D investments including a National Research Foundation, and tax and governance reforms that simplify direct tax processes, institute faceless dispute-resolution and appellate mechanisms, and rationalize customs duty structure to promote domestic value addition.

Finance Bill 2021 revises tax rates, tightens assessment procedures, modernises customs processes, and reforms insurer governance.
The Finance Bill, 2021 revises income-tax rates and surcharge and inserts wide-ranging amendments to direct tax law (definitions, exemptions, capital gains, withholding, assessments and limits), creates pre-notice enquiry and show-cause procedures before reassessment, establishes Dispute Resolution Committees and Boards for Advance Rulings, reforms customs and indirect tax procedures including a Common Customs Electronic Portal and time-bound inquiries, and restructures corporate-governance, capital and dividend provisions of the Life Insurance Corporation Act to enable share issuance and listing, with extensive rule making and notification powers for the Government.

Budgetary process urged to prioritise decade-long development, with parliamentary deliberation and adherence to democratic norms.
Budget session emphasises the Budgetary process as a platform for decade-focused development, urging comprehensive parliamentary deliberation, adherence to democratic norms, and implementation of the President's address; it situates the current Budget within the prior year's series of mini-budgets and anticipates constructive legislative contribution to fulfil public aspirations.

Paperless Union Budget delivery enabled by mobile app providing constitutional Budget documents access to MPs and public.
Union Budget 2021 22 will be delivered in paperless form and the Union Budget Mobile App has been launched to provide complete access to fourteen constitutionally prescribed Budget documents, including the Annual Financial Statement and the Finance Bill. The bilingual App (English and Hindi) supports downloading, printing, search, zoom, bidirectional scrolling and table of contents, is available on Android and iOS and via the Union Budget Web Portal, and will host the documents after the Finance Minister's Budget Speech.